Emphasis in regional development policies has been shifting from supporting individual sectors into the support of regions and assisting them to adapt to societal changes that have occurred in the wake of globalization. Focusing on regions rather than sectors, increased attention has been paid to territorial diversity. This diversity of characteristics and development of individual areas has further increased the importance of the identification of regional/territorial specificities in policy making. The aim of this project is to provide a theoretical definition of territorial specificity. It is partly based on two regional development projects in which regional/territorial specificity was a key concept. The concept is also used systematically and the specificity of Skagafjordur is especially addressed in that context. Regarding this part of the project, semi-structured interviews were conducted with local representatives that were specially chosen.Results show that regional identity is an important factor when it comes to identify regional/territorial specificity. It is also important that locals can connect themselves to a territorial unit as their role in policymaking is becoming increasingly bigger. The conclusion was that territorial specificity is a desirable characteristic of an area that can be exploited in regional development and thereby increasing the competitiveness of the whole. This characteristic is based on local factors of culture, economy, nature and/or knowledge, and has evolved with locals for some time. In identifying territorial specificity, integration of bottom-up and top-down approaches is important so that the specificity identified is based on local characteristics but also targets the wider context.Key words: territorial specificity, exogenous development policy, endogenous development policy, top-down approach, bottom-up approach, Skagafjordur.